On the margins

The research shows that mobile phones have a negative affect on the sex lives of rabbits. Photograph: GK Hart/Vikki Hart

Phone sex It is still believed in some quarters that mobile phones cause damage to the brain, but what about other parts of the body: the testicles, for example? Japanese researchers thought it would be too hard to conduct an experiment on real men, so instead they used ... rabbits. Obvious, really. Find out how mobile phones affected the poor bunnies' sexual performance.

Quote of the week

As Vince Cable announced a possible cut in the number of university places, a source described as being "close to Cable" – not George Osborne, then – said: "There needs to be a big national debate between excellence and quality on the one hand and bums on seats on the other hand. Packing more and more students in is not necessarily good value for money."

What you said

Geoffrey Alderman argued that a revolution was needed in the history curriculum. Students need to see a broad sweep of history, he said, not learn about past events as isolated pockets of knowledge.

Among the responses were this from TristramShandy:

"Overhauled, yes. Broad sweep, yes. But not by Niall bloody Ferguson – let's not replace one simplistic, reductionist version of history with another and call it progress."

And this from OneManIsAnIsland:

"If only we could start by teaching our politicians some history, they wouldn't keep making the same mistakes."

Stories of the day

The pupil premium It's costly, and won't necessarily help the right children. Reforming the admissions system would be a better way of balancing intakes, argues Fiona Millar.

Further forward A growing number of students are choosing to do their degrees at FE colleges rather than university; in fact, the sector now represents around 10% of all higher education students. It's not just a case of cost - colleges can sometimes be better value for money.

Dr Vaios Lappas at Surrey Space Centre with his colleagues and his invention called CubeSail, which collects and cleans up space debris. Photograph: Frank Baron for the Guardian